This was the boyhood home and possibly the birthplace
of Franklin Pierce. About the time of his birth in 1804, his father,
Benjamin, built it and relocated his family there from a nearby log
cabin. In addition to farming and participation in local politics,
Benjamin operated a tavern in the structure, which became the social
center of Hillsboro. He also trained county militia in the upstairs
ballroom.

During the years 1820-27, Franklin was often away
from home, attending Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine, and then
studying law in Portsmouth, N.H., Northampton, Mass., and Amherst, N.H.
In 1827, the year he returned home and established a law practice in a
shed across the road from the homestead, his father became Governor of
New Hampshire. Not long afterward, Franklin himself sought public
office. In 1829 he entered the legislature, and 4 years later won
election to the U.S. House of Representatives. About the time of his
marriage in 1834 he purchased his own home in Hillsboro; 4 years later
he moved to Concord, N.H.

Pierce Homestead.(National Park Service, Edwin W. Small,
1972.)

The homestead remained in the Pierce family until
1925, at which time the State acquired it. Between 1945 and 1950, the
New Hampshire Federation of Women's Clubs restored it. A handsome
example of New Hampshire village architecture, it is a two-story frame
structure that contains eight rooms. The roof is hipped. Furnishings
include a few period pieces. The most outstanding room is the parlor,
highlighted by mahogany furniture covered in horsehair cloth, a Brussels
carpet, and French wallpaper decorated with scenes of Naples Bay.
Stencilled decorations adorn the walls of other rooms. In the upstairs
ballroom, which extends the length of the house, is a curved table that
the State legislature used when Pierce held the speakership. A restored
barn at the rear of the residence is connected to a kitchen and service
ell that was added at a later date. The house is surrounded by fields
and woodlands. It is owned and administered by the State.